Old Game, New Blog

As many Settlers 2 fans know, there is hardly any community for this game. It is a pity because Settlers 2, after more than 10 years, is still the defining Empire Building game. Games such as Anno, Settlers 3++ and the single player Rome: Total War build on the precepts of this game. Most of these games have many User Interface improvements, which, in my opinion, dumb down games in a sense.

I agree that the Settlers 2 is arbitrarily very difficult. The reason is twofold:
- Old games tend to be difficult
- Micro Management is different from other games
The first one can spark a lot of controversy, but in the distant past, games were only completed by the biggest of fans, hence no easy mode in Settlers 2. Ask any old Settlers fans you may know, and you will most likely find none of them has ever completed the Roman Campaign, let alone the World Campaign.

Micro management on the other hand is entirely through the interface, not by controlling characters individually. Directing priorities has profound effects on how your economy works, changing road layout can change the flow of resources for better or worse and more. Some of these should be obvious, yet I once added flags in a savegame of some guys Europe map, which annoyed him because he believed it was less efficient.

I must admit, currently I am only on map 7 of the Roman Campaign, and I'm on a quest to complete it. The aim of this blog is as follows:
- Provide enticing reviews of each level, to invite people to progress
- Provide strategic and economic insights so people can boost their game
- NOT provide walkthroughs
Why no walkthrough? I have read the handful of walkthroughs on the internet, but in this game they are virtually useless. If you can't make a smooth economy, no walkthrough is going to help you. If you can, a walkthrough is not necessary.

Furthermore the following are not core aims but can help your game:
- Guides to install and configure DosBox
- Split Screen Multiplayer guide
- Suggested guides and tips
- If possible with such an old game, build a community
In time these will come. I can't promise a timeline on new articles, but I will try to make this blog as comprehensive as possible in a short time, so people have an in depth Settlers 2 resource to come back to.

Please leave comments if you'd like specific things to be written, or contact me if you would like to post your own ideas.